Konoha, Hokage Building.
Shimura Danzo's eyes gleamed with excitement as he spat out his words:
"As a ninja tasked with such an important mission, to fail is a blow to the reputation of the Land of Fire and the village, Hiruzen, you must know how significant this is!"
"Look at the condemnations from the other Hidden Villages, they're all banding together to punish Konoha, Hatake Sakumo has exposed our stance on the war, this is an extremely serious matter!"
"I propose, first, that Hatake Sakumo be imprisoned, stripped of all titles, and a meeting of high-level leaders be held to discuss further punishment!"
Shimura Danzo felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
His plotting against Hatake Sakumo was nothing short of ingenious, carefully capturing the essence and rules of Konoha.
First, he sold the information to the black market, then had Root members follow, guiding public opinion after returning to the village, and finally leveraging a suicide to hammer in the conclusion, fully igniting the public's opinions and defining the event!
Shimura Danzo had an exceptional understanding of Konoha's ninja, especially Sarutobi Hiruzen and Hatake Sakumo.
In his view, the naive Hatake Sakumo, even if he had suspected something, would not withstand the criticism with his simple heart, a fool who wouldn't use power to win prestige for himself.
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo had anticipated his reaction ahead of time.
Sarutobi Hiruzen certainly would not be pleased with Hatake Sakumo's mission failure, nor would he suppress the village's public opinion in time like he would protect his apprentices, let alone beautify it.
Perhaps when the outcry reached its peak, Sarutobi Hiruzen would choose to intervene and calm it down.
But in the time Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent, Shimura Danzo already had ample opportunity to ignite public opinion, after all, he held command over Root, a force almost exclusively his own!
In Konoha, he had the power to do whatever he wished without needing Hiruzen's consent.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, with a grim face, looked at the triumphant Shimura Danzo and furrowed his brows tightly.
With the matter of Hatake Sakumo, his thoughts basically coincided with Danzo's assumptions, as if he had been completely seen through.
No matter the truth, Hatake Sakumo, as a ninja of Konoha, had brought loss to the village, therefore the mission was a failure!
So some sort of reprimand was necessary, at least that's what Sarutobi Hiruzen believed.
Especially since the incident with Hatake Sakumo had sparked discussions about the ninja code and the Will of Fire, causing him even more of a headache.
How should he address this?
Should he say the ninja code isn't important and it's okay to abandon the mission when needed?
That's definitely not an option, it would affect the reputation with clients and have significant consequences on Konoha's mission volume.
Should he say the Will of Fire shouldn't be adhered to? That would cause a catastrophic ripple, unsettling the people's hearts immensely.
And in Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart, the greatest issue was still the accusations from other Hidden Villages concerning future wars.
Though he kept declaring if other Hidden Villages wanted to fight, then let them...
But that's just for show, even though Aomi existed, the development of Jinchuriki in other Hidden Villages still left Sarutobi Hiruzen deeply disturbed, with the fearsome power of tailed beasts on the battlefield, Konoha currently had no effective countermeasures.
Kushina's performance at Uzumaki Mito's funeral also made Sarutobi Hiruzen realize that she couldn't be treated simply as a weapon, at least needed time to be honed, further undermining his confidence.
If a war erupted, then Konoha would be the only village among the major Hidden Villages without a Jinchuriki participating.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't bear the thought, if they lost the war, would Konoha be destroyed in his hands…
If Konoha fell, then how could he face the Former Hokage?
This mindset fueled Sarutobi Hiruzen's blame towards Hatake Sakumo, and in his hesitation, the decisive Shimura Danzo seized the advantage, implementing all aspects of his plan expertly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face darkened: "Danzo, punishment for Hatake Sakumo will wait until the full scope of this mission is understood, I, as Hokage, will have my assessment."
"I want to ask you, what's the deal with the village's public opinion? And those two ninja who committed suicide, they were from Root, right!"
"Is all of this your manipulation from behind the scenes!"
Shimura Danzo sneered disdainfully, feeling contempt for his old friend's hesitation.
With the people dead, during this argument, the bodies had already been dealt with, all evidence had vanished!
Unless Sarutobi Hiruzen overturned Root, but with Danzo's understanding of him, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't do such a thing, after all, he still needed Danzo as the Root of Konoha, his glove.
He wouldn't turn against him.
Decades of pulling against each other, in this round, under the pressure of Aomi, the decisive Shimura Danzo finally had the upper hand!
"What about the Root?"
Shimura Danzo waved his hand grandly, staring intently at Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Hiruzen, which of the village's confidential missions hasn't involved Root? I merely aimed for the success of the mission!"
"If not for Hatake Sakumo's issue, my Root members would have absolutely defended the village with their lives, without exposure!"
"Don't shift the blame onto me, as Hokage, you must make a fair judgment!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed heavily.
At this point, didn't he know this was Shimura Danzo's conspiracy against Hatake Sakumo?
Sarutobi Hiruzen squinted his eyes, presently the village's public opinion was highly unfriendly to Hatake Sakumo, but the largest problem, as Hokage, any intervention from him now, would hardly quell the clash between the Will of Fire and the ninja code, nor the denunciations from other Hidden Villages...